The Science of Music: New for Fall 2025: now open to all students, all years!

Note that, although there are no prerequisites -- as appropriate to "First-Year Seminars" -- much of the physics and math will have aspects that are novel for students at any level and in any option.  The aim and general content of the course are described in the catalog (https://catalog.caltech.edu/current) and copied here:

This course will focus on the physics of sound, how musical instruments make it, and how we hear it, including readings, discussions, demonstrations, and student observations using sound analysis software. In parallel we will consider what differentiates music from other sounds, and its role psychically and culturally. Students will do a final project of their choice and design, with possibilities including analysis of recordings of actual musical instruments, instrument construction and analysis, and tests or surveys of people's abilities or preferences.